A posse of high schoolers getting into a college pub was easy back in the early 1980s, especially if it was 4 in the afternoon. Especially given our goal.

We were there to play Pac-Man.

I will forever be indebted to Hungry Charley’s (the basement bar near the Syracuse University campus) for helping me waste a significant sliver of my early youth eating stale popcorn (it was free) and realizing that I have little aptitude for video games, which in turn saved a significant portion of my later youth from being wasted on more sophisticated video games. I never ventured past Pac-Man, though I still eat free popcorn at bars when it’s put in front of me.

East Ridge Hots, an unassuming sloppy plate emporium in Seneca Plaza in Irondequoit, is the last place I would expect to be reacquainted with Pac-Man. But the hot dog eatery caters to the before, during and after-bar crowd, which may be why there’s a Pac-Man on site. If you still have quarters to spare after a few games at Bingo Palace, then they are welcome here.

Near the window of a brightly lit dining room sparsely outfitted with Turkish tourism posters and a rack of upstate New York tourism brochures is the quarter-eating, time-wasting machine from my past.

If it weren’t for the Turkish tourism posters, I’d say this is also the last place I’d expect to find an excellent shish kabob. East Ridge may push Rochester-style fast foods (subs, hot dogs, burgers, steak sandwiches), but for my money, the beef and chicken kabobs and shawarma are where it’s at. (Shawarma is meat that is cooked on a large skewer all day long and shaved off as it is needed.)

Shawarma and kabobs are halal, meaning the meat has been slaughtered according to Islamic law. Think of halal as the Muslim equivalent of kosher.

East Ridge even sells a halal cheeseburger sloppy plate for $8.10.

My Styrofoam takeout container was heavy with buttery rice pilaf (white rice and occasional pieces of toasted noodle), tossed salad, roasted tomatoes and green peppers, and a skewer fully loaded with seasoned, tender beef cubes that had no gristle. A plastic fork could deliver it all to your mouth, but it’s more fun using the warm wedges of pita bread to scoop and scarf. This kabob plate is $9.30.

Sheila, my lunch buddy, reported that the fries with her Zweigle’s hot dog slathered in meat sauce were both cold and burned. Bummer for her. But the meat sauce and dog seemed to please.

But we both agreed the fruit smoothies (mine was peach and banana for $3.70) was the way to wash it all down.

This fare may fall in the fast food category, but we waited at least 15 minutes for everthing to come our way. Given the chop-chop-sizzle-sizzle I heard from the kitchen, I didn’t mind too much (I had time to reacquaint myself with Pac-Man), but if you are in a rush, you may want to call ahead for takeout.